


Hiraeth

by Braincoins



Series: Connection-verse [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-19
Updated: 2016-11-19
Packaged: 2018-08-31 21:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8594071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Braincoins/pseuds/Braincoins
Summary: Allura’s homesick and can’t sleep; Shiro’s on night watch on the bridge





	

**Author's Note:**

> hiraeth - (Welsh, n.) a homesickness for a place you can never return to, a place which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past
> 
> Little bit angsty, little bit fluffy. Set after [Connection](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8587555), but you don’t need to read that first. I just realized that I write a lot of Shallura-and-also-Klance, and that’s fine ‘cause I like both those ships, but I wanted something Pure Shallura, so here ya go. Super short drabble thing; this isn’t even a day’s worth of NaNo here.  
> =====================================

            “Can’t sleep?”

            Allura, still in robe and nightgown, turned and smiled wearily at Shiro as he walked back onto the bridge. She had the map up, and the illumination of thousands of galaxies and stars was the only lighting. “Weren’t you supposed to be on watch?” she teased gently.

            “Had to take a quick break. I set the warning systems to high.”

            “I know. I turned them back down when I got here.”

            “And the lights.”

            “Yes.” She turned away again, her eyes on a particular area of the star map. He walked through the foreign constellations and alien worlds to stand by her side.

            “What’s bothering you?” he asked softly.

            She didn’t take her eyes from the map. He followed her gaze to an area of the map that was particularly dark. There was the ghost of an outline of a system there, but it wasn’t illuminated, and it was hard to see. This was the star map’s way of displaying a former system, world, or star that no longer existed. It was a setting normally turned off for navigation, so these relics of the past weren’t usually displayed.

            Shiro looked back at Allura and noticed her eyes shimmered tear-bright in the ethereal illumination of the map. “Oh.” He looked at the map again, then back to her.

            “You’re not the only one who has bad dreams, Shiro. Not that… I don’t mean…”

            “No, no, I understand. Do you want a h-…?” He didn’t even get to finish his offer before she was hugging him tightly… maybe a little too tightly, but he didn’t protest (yet…). He just wrapped his arms around her and rubbed her back, careful not to get his hands – especially his prosthetic – caught in her hair.

            “I just miss Altea so much. My family, my friends, everything I ever knew, it’s just _gone_ , and I…” She sucked in a shuddering breath. “I never even got to say goodbye. I don’t know if it was quick, if they suffered… It seems unfair that I got to live and so many others didn’t.”

            “I know how you feel, a little. I won’t ever know exactly, but…”

            “I hope you never do. Because that would mean Earth…”

            “We won’t let that happen,” he told her. “And we’ll do everything we can to keep it from happening to any other worlds, too. But… well, if I could bring Altea back for you, I would.”

            She finally started to ease the hug down, and he couldn’t help taking a deep breath now that he could again. She noticed and murmured an apology and he told her it was nothing. They stayed in their embrace and just existed for a moment, no sound but their breathing, no light but the star map.

            “I wish I could take you there. I wish you could see it the way I remember it: the sunlight on the juniberries and the breeze blowing through the Blossom Canyon.”

            “It sounds lovely.”

            She looked at his face now, tear tracks down her cheeks. “Will you take me to see Earth some day?”

            He smiled at her and wiped some of the tears away. “Of course. Some day.” _When we’re done saving the universe. When Zarkon is dead and the Galra Empire destroyed. When we have time for vacations._ It didn’t have to be said. It would be a long time before he could keep that promise. He didn’t doubt that she knew it as well as he did.

            She sniffled and laid her head on his shoulder. “I should be sleeping.”

            “Yes,” he agreed. “But sometimes that’s not possible. And I won’t mind if you want to stay here with me until you get sleepy again.”

            “Thank you. Oh!” as she started, pulling away and mopping at his chest a little. “I got your shirt wet. Or…vest. I’m sorry.”

            “Don’t be. I didn’t even notice. It’ll dry.”

            She sighed. “We have to get you all some new clothes.”

            “I’ll add it to the list, right after ‘Defeat Zarkon’ and ‘Save Universe’. But just before ‘Give Allura a Tour of Earth.’”

            She laughed a little and sniffled once. “Well, we might be able to find something before then. I’ll look through the Castle stores. Or Father’s old wardrobe, if it’s still aboard; some of his things might fit you.”

            He shifted uneasily. “I’m… not sure I could fill those shoes. Or shirts, or whatever else.”

            “Well,” she smiled just a little, “you might grow into them.”

            He chuckled. “I think my growth spurt days are over, and thank goodness.”

            She smoothed out his vest and her smile widened. “We’ll see, I suppose.” She kissed his cheek. “Thank you, Shiro.”

            “You’re welcome, as always. So, there’s a lot of time left on my watch. Care to teach me about the universe?” He gestured with one hand to the star map surrounding them and grinned at her. “I’ve always wanted to learn.”

            “I suppose I could do that…” she mused, chewing on her lower lip.

            He cleared his throat. _One of these days, I’m going to have to tell her how cute that is._ For now though, he just asked, “Did you have something else in mind?”

            She leaned in closer to him, cute lip-chewing gone as she mirrored his grin. “I might have.”

            “Now, you know I’m supposed to be on watch.” But he wasn’t seriously protesting.

            “And I know that, even if we get _too_ distracted, the systems will warn us if something happens. They’re turned down, not off.”

            “Well, I suppo-…” She didn’t let him finish that sentence either, and he didn’t complain.


End file.
